A number of employees who worked in banks in Nigeria have made a case for the young woman who received heat for addressing Chairman of United Bank for Africa, UBA, Tony Elumelu, by his first name. During the induction of 5,000 newly recruited staff of the bank, one of the new employees took a microphone to speak and referred to Elumelu simply as ‘Tony.’
He cautioned her, saying that he does not subscribe to what he described as ‘Oyinbo’ culture and would rather she adds a prefix to his name.
As social media users called the woman out, some bank staff shared that they are usually taught to refer to everyone including superiors, by their name and some have lost their jobs for not doing that.
Daniel Chukwuemeka wrote: ‘When I was working at Access bank, Asaba branch, Aig (the then CEO) paid us a surprise visit, along with his then deputy, the late Herbert Wigwe.
‘During the proceedings, our branch secretary addressed Aig with “sir.”
‘It almost got her fired.
‘Our branch manager had to intervene and defend the secretary by saying she was new to the bank.
‘It was an eye opener for me.
‘Later, I would learn that the practice is common in the corporate world.
‘I would learn that, within corporate spaces, the culture of first-name addressing is employed to create a cordial professional environment among employees.’
He continued: ‘When I worked with Diamond bank, it was exactly so.
We addressed everyone by their first name, including the then CEO, who’s now the governor of Abia state.
‘Oh yes, I said “good afternoon Alex” the moment I walked into his office in Lagos for the final interview, as part of the recruitment process, having been a trainee for a few months at the bank’s Owerre branch back then.’
The former banker, who now lectures abroad, went on to narrate how his students calls him by name, yet still show him the highest level of respect.
Another person took to X to share his experience.
Modupe Okeowo, a business leader, wrote on X: ‘I understand it was a class of new recruits; the girl made an honest mistake. I also believe the induction at the training school conflicted her mind, as they are asked to address everyone within the system by their first name. You will genuinely see the struggle in the girl too.
‘It reminds me of an incident during one of my in-laws’ induction classes about 15 years ago with Access Bank. Herbert disengaged the best recruit (a brilliant girl) in that set for calling him “Mr Herbert” right after passing out from induction training. He said it shows she didn’t imbibe anything from the training. Situational awareness should also be thought to help these young people when it comes to culture adoption. The girl made an honest mistake.’
